Donald Westlake, R.I.P.

Donald E. Westlake, the incomparable writer of a great many fine crime novels - including the Dortmunder series under his own name and the Parker novels as Richard Stark - is dead. He was 75 and passed away from an apparent heart attack in San Tancho, Mexico as he headed out to a New Year's Eve dinner. The New York Times has a quick obituary and there will be much, much more to come. 

I was stunned when I heard the news. I imagine many more will be as well. Who else will chronicle the world's foibles and miseries, comic highs and cruel lows, the margins and the in-betweens in the way Westlake did? Who else could have the kind of publishing career Westlake did, the kind that was de rigeur decades ago but is now almost completely obsolete now? This is a loss I've dreaded and tried not to think about since Evan Hunter died three and a half years ago. And now here it is. And it's as incalculable as I feared.

Suffice to say this is NOT the way to ring in 2009. So through the end of the week, the tributes will be collected and the floor's yours to pay tribute to someone truly beyond measure in the mystery genre.

(photo credit: Laurie Roberts)

UPDATE: Some choice Westlake links:

• 1990 interview with Don Swaim
• John Banville on the Parker novels
• Banville and Westlake chat in Newsweek
• University of Chicago Press interview with Westlake/Stark to coincide with the reissues of the first Parker novels
• Time Out Chicago looks at the Parker novel reissues
• Westlake interviewed by the Onion AV Club
• WaPo interview from 1997 about THE AX (especially appropriate in these crazy economic times)
• Westlake and Elmore Leonard in conversation
• 1990 LAT essay on George V. Higgins
• 2002 essay in the Weekly Standard on reading the Presidents; 2001 profile in the magazine by Steven Lenzner
• 2006 interview in Chronogram
• Ed Gorman's 2006 Pro-File
• 2005 interview coinciding with Westlake's appearance at the National Film Theater in London
• Marcel Berlins meets Westlake for the Times of London
• 2006 review of John Mortimer's QUITE HONESTLY in the NYTBR
• 2001 NYT essay on switching off between Westlake and Stark
• Terry Teachout reviewed DIRTY MONEY in Commentary, SMOKE in the NYTBR and pays tribute on About Last Night
• The late, great John Leonard reviewed KAHAWA in the NYTBR
• What looks to be excerpts from Westlake's last recorded interview, conducted at the Mord Am Hellweg crime festival in Munich in early November 2008 (via)
• Jaime Weinman on Westlake's "masterpiece", which I will now never get to ask him about. Or co-writing a flick directed by Dom DeLuise, of all people.
• More on the Supertrain pilot, where it turns out Westlake only had a "story by" credit on the pilot, but that meant he shared co-creator statuts for the show's entire run.
• Ethan Iverson, pianist with the kickass trio The Bad Plus (and possibly the most well-read Westlake/Stark fan known to mankind) rewrites the opening chapter of THE DA VINCI CODE in the style of Richard Stark.
• And from the 1997 Nevermore Awards, one of my favorite Westlake pics (he's with his wife Abby Adams, left, and Partners & Crime co-owner Kizmin Reeves, center)

UPDATE 2: Tributes roll in from:

• Oline Cogdill
• Terry Teachout
• Thom Geier
• James Reasoner
• Bill Crider
• Alonso Duralde
• Peter Rozovsky
• Peter Rozovsky (ii)
• Tom Piccirilli
• Anthony Neil Smith
• The Rap Sheet
• J. Kingston Pierce
• Michael Berry
• The Corner
• Gregoire Lemanger
• 2Blowhards
• Bob Randisi
• Russel McLean
• Neil Gaiman
• Steve Steinbock
• Jiro Kimura
• Steve Brewer
• Duane Swierczynski
• Dave White
• Jeff Abbott
• Patrick Shawn Bagley
• Maggie Griffin
• Chad Orzel
• Lucienne Diver
• Nancy Friedman
• Kevin Burton Smith
• Jo Walton
• Williamsburg Regional Library
• Times of London obit
• Tom Nissley
• Phil Nugent
• Mark Finn @ Cimmerian
• Michael Carlson
• Washington Post obit
• Ron Charles with comments on Westlake's reviews for Book World
• Patrick Merrell
• Lee Goldberg
• Tod Goldberg
• Art Taylor
• JP Rangaswami
• Steven Hart
• Ellen Datlow
• And a short but devastating one from Harlan Ellison: "The best writer in America has gone. I will not be able to deal with this; not for a very long time."

UPDATE 3: Charles Ardai's tribute at the Guardian Books Blog is a stunner. Here's an excerpt:

I feel lucky to have worked with Don over the past five years, to bring out new editions of some of his oldest and rarest novels. We have one coming at the end of February that he was particularly excited to see ("chuffed", he said he was) – it's that first novel of his, The Mercenaries, only it's finally going to appear, for the first time ever, under the title he originally meant for it to have: The Cutie. Before that we did 361, Somebody Owes Me Money, and his Richard Stark novel Lemons Never Lie. They are among our bestselling titles. People love his books and can't get enough of them. I am one of those people. It breaks my heart that after one more book coming this summer I'll never get to read a new Donald Westlake novel. I'd settle for a new short story. Hell, I'd settle for an email. Don wrote great emails.

But my shelves are heavy with his work and it's a body of work I treasure. No petits fours here, but plenty of Grade A Prime just the way I like it, bloody and rare.

UPDATE 4: For some reason the NYT obit - which, of course, has been picked up everywhere thanks to the AP - reported that Westlake's final Dortmunder novel, GET REAL, would be published in April. That is incorrect. I've confirmed with Westlake's publicist at Grand Central, Susan Richman, that the book will be published on July 17, which is what the GC catalog and Amazon said.

UPDATE 5: My appreciation of Westlake's work appears in the Los Angeles Times. Here's how it opens:

Donald E. Westlake is dead. This simple sentence can't even begin to encapsulate the enormity of this event. Because it also means Richard Stark has passed on too, as has Tucker Coe and Samuel Holt, Timothy J. Culver and J. Morgan Cunningham and a slew of other pen names best left to gather dust. The sum of these pseudonymous parts is a writing career well over 100 novels strong, running the gamut from overt comedy to biting satire, subtle existentialism to social commentary, and downright impossible to emulate in today's publishing climate. Westlake's death at age 75, of an apparent heart attack on New Year's Eve, comes ever closer to bringing down the curtain on a bygone era.

Lest one confuse prolific output with mediocrity, think again. Westlake came of age during the heyday of the paperback revolution, when quantity was rewarded at a penny a word by houses looking for lurid tales worthy of the racy cover art. With families to feed and deadlines to meet, there wasn't time to fuss over the right turn of phrase or elongated story lines -- or to thumb a nose at a particular genre. During his six-decade career, Westlake wrote sleazy novels and children's books, penned Oscar-nominated film scripts like "The Grifters" and epic television flops like "Supertrain," dabbled in science fiction and even cooked up a biography of Elizabeth Taylor. But his best home was always crime fiction, as seen through the fun-house mirror of works written under his real name and by his darker alter ego, Stark.

UPDATE 6: Ethan Iverson's amazing tribute is now up at The Bad Plus's blog Do The Math. How amazing? He quotes from correspondence between himself and Westlake dating back to 2003 and presents an annotated bibliography of almost all the Westlake "canon" with comments from the man. And the close is particulary appropriate:

Don, thanks for a memorable chapter in my life;  I'll never forget meeting and getting to know a literary hero.

But really, thanks for all the goddamn great books.  In way, I can't even be that sad you have passed on:  you did here exactly what you were supposed to do.

UPDATE 7, 1/8/08: Scott Timberg writes in the LAT about why Westlake's work proved troublesome for making good movies:

One of the enigmas in the long and rich career of Donald E. Westlake was that this author of more than 100 novels, many of them popular, accessible and plot-driven works of crime fiction, both grim and comic, received such a spotty handling by Hollywood.

Roughly two dozen films emerged from Westlake's novels or involved screenplay work by the man himself. But only two -- 1967's "Point Blank," based on the first novel he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Stark, and Westlake's adaptation of Jim Thompson's "The Grifters" (1990) -- are clear standouts. Both films, oddly, were done by British directors (John Boorman and Stephen Frears, respectively) well out of the Hollywood mainstream....

...The issue of Westlake's Hollywood legacy is worth pondering now, after the novelist's death, at age 75, of a heart attack on New Year's Eve. Next week, the first-ever film adaptation of Westlake's work, "Made in USA," opens at the Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles, more than four decades after it was made. And that movie highlights another irony: The film, well regarded by the few who have seen it, was directed by Jean-Luc Godard, who is, of course, a Frenchman.

It makes you wonder, Why was it so hard for Hollywood to get Westlake right?

Comments

[Corey Wilde]

No. No, I don't want to hear this.

[Jean-Marc Laherrère]

The sadest way to begin the year.

[Charles Ardai]

Ah, jesus. We've lost so many, but this one really, really hurts. He was a phenomenal talent and a phenomenal mensch and I miss him like you wouldn't believe.

[Mike Berry]

He made it all look so easy.

I'm sorry the new year has to start this way.

[Nathan Cain]

I should have stayed off the Internet tonight. This just ruined my evening.

[Joe Crim]

This news will sadden - and surprise - all who love this great man and his prodigious talents. A tremendous loss.

[tom schreck]

The Hot Rock was the first book I remember reading and loving...a favorite, a role model, a joy...

Thanks...

[Clayton Moore]

Boy, this is a tough one. I met him about five years ago, and interviewed him in 2007. The man had the best answer to my question about what would happen if Parker and Dortmunder met in a bar.

"Parker and Dortmunder would take each other’s measure very quickly," he said, "…and Dortmunder would leave the room. Parker wouldn’t bother to leave the room."

And here's an even more appropriate quote that never made it into print.

"I’ve never been only a mystery writer. I saw a quote from Stravinsky that was in an advertisement in the Times – he said, 'I don’t write modern music. I write good music.'I think I’m a writer first. A lot of it just happens to be in the mystery field."

I'll write something longer when I can get my thoughts together, but I echo your sentiments, Sarah.

[Nancy Damon]

Donald Westlake was a featured speaker at the Virginia Festival of the Book in 2003. He was a wonderful person, generous with his time, humorous, gentlemanly, willing to participate in a discussion with younger crime writers, without pulling rank--just a marvelous person. His books were great fun and creative. What pleasure he gave to so many people!

Nancy Damon
Program Director, Virginia Festival of the Book
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
Charlottesville, Virginia

[Robert Gregory Browne]

Donald Westlake was the reason I started writing. I discovered his work at age thirteen, when I read a serialized version of his novel SOMEBODY OWES ME MONEY in, of all places, Playboy magazine. I can't remember who the centerfold was that month, but I certainly remember that story and how it grabbed me.

I immediately went to the library and found all the Westlake books I could find, then soon discovered the world of Parker.

The last time I was in New York I had hoped to arrange a lunch with Westlake, to thank him for his inspiration and for teaching me to write, but for various reasons the invitation was never extended (and I have no idea if it would have been accepted), so it never happened. Now, more than ever, I wish it had.

I never knew the man personally, but this is a huge loss for me.

[Timothy Hallinan]

It's hard to think of another writer who gave me so much pure pleasure. I've got at least fifteen of his books, and that's after lending many and giving some away. But what a way to go -- out in a flash on his way to a New Year's party. There's some mercy in that.

[Clare]

What a crappy way to start the year. Not only was Donald a fantastic writer, but he was a great father, husband, and friend to many. He and his wife Abby are great friends of my parents - they live a couple of miles away from each other in Gallatin, NY. We just celebrated Christmas with him last week at my folks' house, and then my husband and I stayed in their home in the East Village in NYC just a few days ago while they were in Mexico. I had to call my parents tonight and tell them - they hadn't yet heard the news. I am deeply, deeply saddened by this - there will never be another one like Donald Westlake. My family, as well as countless others, will miss him terribly.

[Andrew]

I just can't believe he's really gone. The first book of his I read was "Humans," because the review in the times intrigued me. Since then, I've made collecting his books a near obsession of mine. I never met him, but I feel like an old friend has gone away. I think I just expected him to keep writing books forever.

[Levi Stahl]

Oh, this is so sad. Obviously I knew he wasn't a young man, but the vitality of his writing somehow fooled me into assuming that this day was long away. I never met him, but in the course of working on the reissues of his books this past year I got to be involved in e-mail threads with him, and he was unfailingly friendly, warm, thoughtful, and funny.

[Ludger]

It's a very, very sad news. Two month ago he was on tour in germany and his german publisher, Zsolnay, put an Interview with Mr. Westlake on YouTube. You could find it under http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZUtFg7vIJ4
In mourning
Ludger

[Peter]

The funniest. The cleverest. The sharpest. The toughest. The most industrious. The best.
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

[Ayo Onatade]

This is really not what I want to hear so early in the New Year! This is such a bummer. No more Dortmunder no more Parker. This is a sad day.

[Dana King]

This truly is sad news. I have not read as much Westlake as I would have liked, but, given the caliber of his books, I suspect no one has.

As good as the Dortmunder and Parker books are, I was lucky enough to stumble onto a collection of short stories titled LEVINE about a year ago, stories of a middle-aged New York cop with heart trouble. Beautiful constructed mysteries, they are also poignant without becoming maudlin. Highly recommended.

[rosemary harris]

I was lucky enough to meet Donald Westlake a few times because he very generously lent his name to some of the Meet the Author charity dinners held by the Goddard Riverside Settlement House on NY's upper west side. It was always a treat.

[Jim Treacher]

I can't believe Dirty Money is the final Parker novel. He hadn't missed a step. He wrote rings around guys 1/3rd his age. Goddammit.

[elfin]

i read "Don't Ask" 8 times almost in a row and i still couldn't quit finding it amazing. i'm shocked and yes i cried. what will dortmunder,may,andy, tiny and stan do now?
he entertained me in times that were beyond entertainment,what i received from him is priceless...

[Kent Gibbons]

Collectively he's provided me with months (probably) of amazed reading pleasure. I thought I'd read everything with all pseudonyms but now in reading the obits I realized there are months, years more to read. That's some solace. I was thrilled to see him in person at the Edgar Awards a couple of years ago, and was even more thrilled several years earlier when I mailed him a clipping from the paper that was akin to a plot device he'd used -- something about a sting that involved sending warrant skippers a letter telling them they'd won the lottery. I received a typed return letter that I treasure. Bon voyage Donald!

[MiddleBrowser]

Very sad.

I've only recently gotten around to reading Westlake and am very pleased to know that there are dozens of books left for me to read (if I can get my hands on them). I'm up to the eighth Parker novel and recently finished "The Ax" and "Kahawa". (Kahawa reminded me of when I read "Lonesome Dove" - I so wanted the adventure to continue. Why it was never made into a movie, I'll never know. Of course, Hollywood would probably add all sorts of explosions and just ruin it.)

[Claus]

Donald Westlake was one of my heroes of mystery fiction. I was deeply impressed by his Mitch Tobin novels, and I loved his Parker series. Reading the Parker novels was like „a faint cold fear thrilling through my veins" (William Shakespeare). Hard to imagine that there will be no more Parker novels.

[jackscrow]

Donald Westlake.

When this happens, you can't help feeling that a part of your existence has been cut off. The characters are still there, but you know that there won't be any more, and somehow they have died too. And you don't really know the author, but you do.

One of my favorites, he and his buddies Lawrence Block and Bill Pronzini have provided me with tons of fun and wonderfully enlightening entertainment down the years.

I'll be moseying down to the OJ Bar and Grill sometime this evening.

Looks like a half-bottle of Amsterdam Liquor Store "Our Own Brand" Bourbon night

Don't wait up.

Hey there Rollo....